Chapter 5

Chapter

Five

“My great-grandparents and grandparents lived here,”I tell Kieran, picking up the bottle to turn it around and around in my hands. “I visited when I was a kid. Two weeks every summer, we’d stay with Grandma.”

“Ohhh,” Kieran breathes out. “You and your parents?”

“Uh huh. And my big brother and sister. But we never lived here, really.”

Kieran nods thoughtfully, propping his elbow on the table and his chin on his fist.

“I was thirteen for my last summer here. So it’s not really a surprise that nobody remembers me,” I shrug.

The part that upsets me is anyone else thinking I’m here to wreck my family’s legacy.

“Mmm. You might be surprised,” Kieran tells me with a mischievous smile. “A lot of the kids who grew up here have moved back.”

I sigh and tap my fingers on the table. “I didn’t really know anyone my own age until that last summer. I always thought they were so cool, but I wasn’t allowed to go to the playground with them unless one of my siblings came along.”

Kieran groans. “I’m glad I’m an only child. That must have sucked.”

“It did, a bit,” I admit, clearing my throat as I glance away from him.

It’s dumb to feel this lonely just remembering it all these years later. I had plenty of other friends, and a pretty normal childhood.

So I rush on to the part that always makes me smile.

“But then came that last summer. My parents let me stay with Grandma for the rest of the summer, after our two weeks here.”

Kieran grins. “And you got to know this place for real?”

“Exactly.”

All the best memories are flooding back to me, and I can’t help smiling.

Walking down to the dock for ice cream by myself, playing with whoever I wanted, getting muddy and staying out until dark for those long summer evenings…

“I finally got in with the cool kids. There were five of them. The Sunrise Brothers, everyone called them.”

I still remember their names: Alph and Carter, the big guys. Drew, the one who liked to tinker with machines. Zach was the jokester, and then there was quiet Murph.

All of them took me under their wing. They even made me an honorary Brother, even though everyone knew I didn’t live here.

It meant a lot to me, finally feeling like a cool kid for those few short weeks.

Kieran’s eyes are wide as dinner plates. He leans in like he’s entranced by the story. “Uh huh? And?”

I shrug and sigh. “It was great. Best summer of my life. I promised them I’d come back next year, and I’d try to talk my family into letting me stay with Grandma all summer long.”

Kieran’s smile slowly starts to fade as he guesses what’s coming next. I already told him that was the last summer, after all.

“Then Grandma had to move to be closer to my parents,” I finish with a sigh. “We sold her house and kept the orchard. And I never came back.”

Kieran nods slowly, his brow furrowed. “But you always missed it here?”

“Yeah.” I clear my throat. “I don’t know, man. This island. Once it has a piece of your heart…”

“It never lets go.”

“Yeah,” I smile.

But Kieran actually looks away from me, his lips twisting for a moment, like that bothers him.

Shit.

I have no idea what I said wrong, but before I can ask, Kieran nods and sits back in his chair, folding his arms.

“You’re still a Russell. It’s in your blood. That’s why the island has such a hold on you.”

Kieran’s speaking plainly, so bluntly that it almost sounds like he’s daring me to disagree.

I stop and do a double-take. Then I glance around the restaurant with a frown, drumming my fingers on the table.

Is that true? Do I believe in that kind of stuff?

“Most people have a place they belong—somewhere they’re really meant to be. They’re born there, or they find it later. You inherited yours.”

Everything here has always felt familiar. I figured it’s because of those vacations here, and the way Sunrise is almost a background character in so many family stories.

But arriving here today, walking into that orchard for the first time… it jut felt easy. Like coming back.

“You really think so?” I ask, frowning at him.

Kieran just shrugs. “If you’re not from here, nobody is.”

Huh.

You know what? He has a point. This place is where my family was forged, and Grandma wanted me to come back.

“And in any case,” Kieran forges ahead stubbornly, “you’re here now. So if you stay, you’re from here. That’s how the Sunrise Brothers always acted, wasn’t it?”

He’s right again. How does he do it?

“Um… yeah?”

Kieran grins. “That’s exactly what happened to me. I’ve been here eight months and they think I’m a real islander now. Look at all the group chats I’m in!” He grabs his phone and waves it at me for illustration.

I actually manage a smile for him.

Gotta say, it felt good to get all of that off my chest. And I don’t think Kieran’s bullshitting me at all. He gets what this place is like, and what it’s like to be new here.

“Hey. That actually gives me an idea…” Kieran’s eyes light up as he unlocks his phone. “Don’t worry. Give me three minutes and everyone will know who you are.”

“Um…” I trail off, scratching the back of my head.

From the frying pan into the fire.

I wish I’d had a chance to settle in before the pressure got turned up. I don’t really have a plan, but everyone will be expecting me to pull a bunch of miracles out of my ass.

Revive the orchard, produce the perfect cider, launch the business, bring all the tourists here… like a made-for-TV romance.

Where I run into a stranger who’s my total opposite, but helps me find my way?

I swallow hard and push back the thought. That kind of stuff doesn’t happen in real life. Not to me, anyway.

“Okay,” Kieran says briskly, looking up at me. “You’re not planning on cutting down the trees and replanting them?”

“Uh…” I look down at his phone and then up at him. It feels like I’m being interviewed all of a sudden, and I didn’t prepare my answers. “No. I might need to plant some new ones, but I want to rescue all the veteran trees.”

Kieran breathes out a sigh of relief and furiously taps away at his phone as I try not to smile. He’s switching between several conversations so fast that I definitely don’t believe he doesn’t get involved with gossip.

Maybe he doesn’t create it, but he sure keeps up with it. The sneaky look on his face is actually cute as hell, though.

“And the footpath stays, right?” Kieran looks up at me again.

“To the beach? Yeah, of course. That’s been there for longer than I have.”

Kieran nods and taps away again as I laugh, folding my arms to prop my chin on my fist as I watch him.

When he has a mission, Kieran sure doesn’t stop for anything. It’s a dangerously attractive quality when I’m the mission.

Speaking of which, I should start mine.

Spring is already here, and I can’t spend all day sitting around flirting. However much I’d like to.

“And you’re staying in the cabin?” Kieran puts down his phone again.

I wasn’t born yesterday. I raise an eyebrow, letting him know that I know exactly what’s up. “People want to know that?”

“Some people do,” Kieran says, maintaining his innocence with a blink.

“I am,” I answer his question. As he grins mischievously, I scowl. “But it’ll take a bit before I’m ready to invite over guests.”

I know what Sunrise is like. If I’m not careful, I’ll find a housewarming kitchen party happening around me in the blink of an eye.

“We have to invite ourselves? Noted.” Kieran tosses his head defiantly as he grins right back at me.

He doesn’t give me a break, does he?

I like that about him… a lot.

But then the door opens, and we’re finally interrupted by others walking in. I stop myself just before I whirl around and glare at them.

It’s a restaurant. They’re allowed. In fact, it’s probably a good thing… but damn it, I could spend all day letting Kieran weave this spell on me.

Kieran stands up right away, gathering the plate and forks as he winks at me. “Want the check now or later, lover?” He picks up the old cider bottle in his other hand, carefully cradling it against his chest.

“Now, please,” I tell him, groaning as I push myself to my feet to gather up my photos. “I’ve gotta get going. I’ve got a lot to live up to.”

Kieran cranes his neck to peer up at me. “Don’t worry. I bet your feet are big enough to fill those shoes,” he murmurs.

I blush as Kieran looks me all the way up and down, and then he just sashays off. He swings into action like a well-oiled machine, greeting the new customers as he puts back the bottle and grabs menus.

Lord, he’s killing me.

I shake my head, rubbing my hand over my face and the smile that appeared all on its own, yet again.

But Kieran’s right. If my family did it, so can I.

And not just because I’m a foot taller than him… or because I have big feet… or anything else that might imply.

I leave cash on the table—plus another tip, of Kieran’s apparently third-favourite kind.

He catches my eyes on the way out the door, and I suddenly lose track of whatever small talk I was trying to leave him with.

All I can do is smile at him like we’re both in on a secret that nobody else could quite understand. Because that’s what it feels like.

And Kieran doesn’t say a word. He just smiles right back at me in that way that makes his entire soul sparkle.

There’s one good thing about this island being so small. I know that one way or another, I’m gonna see him again… real soon.